


No Rescue Needed

by dracusfyre



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Established Relationship, M/M, Meet-Cute, Polyamory, Pre-Poly, Pre-Relationship, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28994091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracusfyre/pseuds/dracusfyre
Summary: Steve makes an awkward first impression when he tries to rescue Tony but ends up cock-blocking him instead. To be fair, it wasn't all Steve's fault - he couldn't have known that when Tony disappeared under the surface of the ocean and didn't come back up for air, it was because he didn't need air in the first place.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 9
Kudos: 143
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	No Rescue Needed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zola9612](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zola9612/gifts).



> Based off a Tumblr prompt request: "A kiss that is leading to more, but is interrupted by a third party. Established WinterIron, future Stuckony." I combined it with my "merpeople" square from the Tony Stark Bingo and voila. Enjoy this quick tumblr fic :D

Tony sighed wistfully and looked out over the moonlit ocean, listening to the muted crashing of the waves hitting the cliffside. He was sitting on a pile of rocks at the base of the cliff, close enough that he could feel the spray. The night was clear and crisp, the stars bright despite the regular sweeping beam of Tony’s lighthouse at the top of the cliff. The wind was strong and steady from the east, and Tony could smell the hint of a storm out over the water.

“When will my lover come home from the war?” He mourned loudly, plucking petals from the rose in his hand and casting them into the water. “It has been nigh-“ he checked his phone “-thirty-seven hours and forty-two minutes since I seen him last. I fear that I might soon forget his face and be tempted to love ano- _shit!_ ” 

Even though he had been semi-expecting it, the cold, wet hand that wrapped around his ankle and pulled him off his perch into the frigid water was a surprise. He laughed, knowing that Bucky could feel the vibrations of his amusement through the water, and found Bucky’s lips with his own. Bucky’s hands tangled in Tony’s hair as they kissed, mouth hot; Tony could taste the salt of the ocean and a wildness that was all Bucky, and it never failed to thrill Tony to his bones. Under the water it was dark, too dark for even Tony’s eyes to see, and all sound was muffled, and there were no smells but the sea, so the only thing that Tony could sense the feel of Bucky against him, under his hands and against his mouth. He stroked firmly down Bucky’s sides, gripping his fins and feeling the muscles move under Bucky’s skin as he kept them steady in the water. He felt more than heard Bucky’s groan, vibrating through his chest, and he bit lightly at Bucky’s lips to get more of a taste of him on his tongue. They didn’t normally get frisky like this under the water – after all, Tony had a lovely large bed with soft sheets and dark curtains to keep out the sunlight back at the lighthouse – but apparently Bucky was in the mood, hands plucking urgently at Tony’s clothes to get at the skin underneath. Tony wrapped his legs around Bucky’s waist as he pulled away from Bucky’s mouth just long enough to wrestle his shirt over his head, and then they jerked apart in surprise as they felt something plunge into the water right next to them.

He heard Bucky’s instinctive, startled cry of alarm and tried to see what was happening, but all he could see was the rapidly disappearing reflection of moonlight off the bubbles streaming through the dark water. He felt the woosh of water as Bucky swam after who- or whatever it was, and kicked his way to the surface to wait for him, raking his hair away from his face as he treaded water and cursed his lack of natural buoyancy. But it was only a couple of minutes before Bucky’s head broke the water with is cargo in tow.

“What the hell?” Tony said. It was a person. Some stupid idiot had jumped into the ocean in the middle of the night in late October; it was a miracle that he wasn’t already getting hypothermia. And it was a stranger, to boot – Tony knew everyone in the tiny town that was closest to the lighthouse, and he’d remember seeing a man this good-looking and brain-dead. “Did you just jump into the water? For God’s sake, why?”

“I s-saw you fall in, and you didn’t c-come up,” the man said, shivering but surprisingly lucid given how cold he must be.

“For Christ’s sake,” Tony started, but Bucky cut him off.

“Let’s get him warmed up, then curse him out,” Bucky said, and as Tony made his way back to the rocks and picked his way around the base of the cliffs towards the trail up to the lighthouse Bucky started towards the pebbled beach with the man in tow.

“I can swim,” Tony heard the man protest, and smiled when he heard Bucky’s click of disgust.

“Shut up,” Bucky said crossly, and Tony knew he was pissed that this guy had interrupted his plans. He all but tossed the stranger onto the beach, and that was when Tony noticed that the man was naked.

“Hey!” Tony called out. “Why are you naked? Where are your clothes?” But he wasn’t sure that the man heard him, because he was staring at Bucky as he laboriously pulled himself onto shore with his arms and great big heaves of his tail. As graceful as Bucky was under the water, he was as ungainly out of it, at least until he was far enough on dry land to trigger his transformation. Tony, of course, had never seen him transform in the day, but at night it was lovely – moonlight shone slick on his skin as the water streamed down it, then there was a soft pearlescent glow and when it faded, Bucky looked like any other man, if more muscular than most. But now he was just as naked as the stranger, which left Tony feeling overdressed and somewhat bedraggled with his wet hair and dripping clothes. “Fuck it,” Tony muttered, and kicked his own clothes off as well, stopping only to grab his phone in its waterproof case out of his pocket then leaving everything else on the rocks to gather later. Other than Bucky and now this guy, Tony had never seen another living being out on this finger of land that jutted out into the ocean, connected to the mainland by a ribbon of land so narrow that it didn’t even have a proper road on it and it disappeared in particularly high tides.

“Are you not human either?” The man exclaimed as Tony approached.

Tony shared a glance with Bucky, who was pulling his long hair away from his face and tying it up with a hair band he kept around his wrist for just that purpose. “Well…” Tony hedged, then he stopped and scowled. “Wait, what do you mean, _either?_ ” The man looked alarmed as Tony came closer and leaned in; underneath the salty, fishy smell of the ocean, he caught a trace of – “You’re a _werewolf?_ ”

“Maybe we should talk inside,” Bucky suggested again, and Tony led the way up the trail to the lighthouse, hitting the lights as he went inside. Towels always hung by the door, and as they all dried off Tony studied the newcomer. The man’s hair was dark now, but he could tell that it would dry to a burnished gold, and he had a thick beard that emphasized his strong jaw and framed a full mouth. Now that they were standing on level ground, Tony could tell that he was tall, barely taller than Bucky, and his body was just as thickly muscled. Bucky caught him staring and raised an eyebrow with amusement as Tony just shrugged and smiled.

Tony tossed Bucky his clothes from the back of the couch, then went into the bedroom to grab a pair of pants and something for the stranger to wear. “My name is Tony,” he said as he handed the man a pair of Bucky’s old shorts. “And to answer your question from earlier, no, I’m not human. I’m a vampire.”

The man had the grace to look chagrined that he had jumped into an ice-cold ocean to save a _vampire_ from drowning. “I’m Steve. I’m sorry for barging in on you both, I just was exploring the area when I caught your scent, then I saw you go into the water-“

“It’s fine, you couldn’t have known,” Tony said, waving off Steve’s apology. He gestured for Steve to take a seat and hit the button for the coffee pot, the one human habit he hadn’t been able to kick even after all these years. “This is Bucky, and you might have noticed that he’s mer.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Steve said, and Tony glanced over to see that the man’s face was suspiciously red as he looked at Bucky. This time it was Tony’s turn to smirk as Bucky studied Steve with equal interest, his previous hostility draining away at the potential to get to know someone new and exciting.

“I’ve never met a were before,” Bucky said. He scratched his chin as if he actually wanted to be running his fingers through Steve’s beard, and Tony could sympathize. Bucky’s face was as hairless as his body, in and out of the water, and Tony had lost the ability to grow a beard like that when he turned. “What brings you to the area?”

“I just got out of the military, and needed some time to clear my head, so I took some time off to roam. Oh shit! I’ve got a bag with my stuff in it, I dropped it near the cliffs.” He half-stood as if he was going to go retrieve it right this second, but Tony stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s safe for now, I’ll get it for you. Are you hungry? Bucky keeps us well stocked with seafood,” Tony offered, perching on the edge of the armchair where Bucky was sitting as the coffee maker burbled and hissed.

“No, please, I don’t want to put you to any trouble,” Steve said. “I’ve already imposed enough. I should get going.” He shuffled his feet a little but made no move to get up, and Tony suppressed a gleeful smile as he met Bucky’s eyes again.

“You should stay,” Bucky said as if on cue, curling his feet up underneath him in the chair. “What, were you planning to get a hotel room or something? You’d rather stay with humans?”

“Well, no,” Steve admitted. “I’ve mostly been sticking to the woods and only going into towns when I had a craving for a hot meal.”

Tony had to laugh at that, because that was also pretty much the only reason why _Tony_ had ever gone into towns, at least until he’d met Bucky and didn’t have to leave the lighthouse to feed anymore. “Well, we aren’t the best chefs but we can make a hot meal, and we’ve got a spare bed if you want it. If you need to feel useful, I’m sure we can find something for you to do around here.”

“Okay,” Steve said after a moment, nodding. “If you’re sure.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title: No Rescue Needed  
> Collaborator Name: Dracusfyre  
> Card Number: 4032  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28994091  
> Square Filled (Letter/number AND prompt): S2 "Merpeople"  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes  
> Rating: G  
> Major Tags: Meet Cute, Polyamory, Established Relationship, Pre-relationship, Alternate Universe-Fantasy  
> Summary: Steve makes an awkward first impression when he tries to rescue Tony but ends up cock-blocking him instead. To be fair, it wasn't all Steve's fault - he couldn't have known that when Tony disappeared under the surface of the ocean and didn't come back up for air, it was because he didn't need air in the first place.  
> Word Count: 1768


End file.
